4 Cupcake Decorating Techniques Everyone Should Know [VIDEO]

When it comes to sweets, we love vibrant colors almost as much as deliciousness. So when we can combine the two, it makes for a pretty great food experience. For this super sweet cupcake collection, we teamed up with Method to come up with four unusual cupcake flavors and decoration ideas, inspired by four of Method’s standout scents! From a floral lavender cupcake to hot pink and citrusy grapefruit, there’s a flavor and design here for everyone.

And as much as we love mixing colorful batter and frosting, the whole production can definitely get messy. For this project, we made sure to keep plenty of Method All-Purpose Cleaner on hand, and we even coordinated the scents to the flavors of the cupcakes. This is definitely the most delicious installment of our Clean Happy series with Method—and all the folks at Brit HQ were happy to taste-test.

As you can see in the video above, this would make a great girls’ night or bridal shower activity. It’s so fun to see how people change up the decorations based on personal style.

For all of these, you’ll start by mixing the cake batter. (Health hack: You can substitute diet soda for the oil and water in your cake mix to make a “skinny” cupcake. They also come out super fluffy and moist!) Whip up the colorful frosting while the cupcakes are baking.

4. Add a few drops of purple food coloring to the white frosting. Decorate (see below) and enjoy!

For this cupcake decor, we used a frosting knife to create a basic cupcake top — this is the easiest way to decorate a cupcake. Just add a big blob of frosting with your spoon, then turn your knife sideways and to the edge of the cupcake while you spin the cupcake in your hand. You should end up with a smooth edge and pointed center. Then, just smooth the top of the center to finish up. So easy. You can top with lavender sprigs or edible flowers to take it to the next level.

4. Add a few drops of yellow food coloring to the white frosting. Decorate (see below) and enjoy!

To frost this sunny guy, use a round piping tip. This is one of the easiest piping tips to use. Fill the piping bag with your frosting and hold in one hand, squeezing from the top of the bag. (It’s like toothpaste, always squeeze from the top, not the nozzle!) Start from the outer edge of the cupcake and create a swirl, ending at the center. Gently stop squeezing to get a nice tip. Top with a lemon slice or yellow sanding sugar to kick your cupcake up a notch!

4. Add a few drops of pink food coloring to the white frosting. Decorate (see below) and enjoy!

This frosting technique makes use of another favorite piping tip, the floral tip. Using the same piping bag instructions as above, simply pipe little dots onto your cupcake, starting from the edge and working your way to the middle. They will appear as small flowers (or stars) once they are all piped. It’s pretty enough to leave ’em this way, but you can also top with a garnish if you’re an over achiever ;)

4. Add a few drops of orange food coloring to the white frosting. Decorate and enjoy!

To frost these, we used the basic cupcake dip method. As implied, simply dip the cupcake into a bowl of frosting, twirl slowly, then pull up, continuing to twist to catch frosting remnants if needed. Easy as pie! Or… cupcake! :) Add a clementine segment to the top of your cake for an extra special touch.

And there’s no need to worry about that big old mess. Method makes cleanup easy.

Guess what those cupcake stands are made out of? Candlesticks and old CDs! Just use E6000 craft adhesive to glue together spray painted candlesticks and CDs to make your own. So easy! Now, a few more shots from the fun cupcake decorating party we threw to create the video up top!

We covered everyone’s cupcake decorating station with craft paper for easy cleanup. You can also draw on the paper with a black Sharpie to label all of your decorating supplies.

Don’t forget to put out refreshments for your guests! Add a pop of color to your tabletop with a vase of fresh flowers.